In 1979, President Jimmy Carter started the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Purpose, to provide assistance to local governments hit with disasters. Typically, FEMA doesn’t respond unless a governor requests federal assistance during or leading up to a disaster.

After 9/11, FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Branch serving at the will of the President. Sadly this means the President is allowed to make political appointments.

As my readers know all too well, political appointments all too often yield uneducated and unqualified political appointees, instead of people who can perform.

Such is the case of Donald Trump’s political appointee Brock Long, FEMA Director.

Brock Long earned a MA in Criminal Justice from Appalachian State University, West Virginia. For those of us who have ever served in any capacity of Academia, we know Criminal Justice majors are the least educated members of our society. Why seems to be geared toward the mentality that police officers only follow orders. The military style philosophy.

He served as a regional manager there during George W. Bush’s administration before leading the Alabama Emergency Management Agency from 2008 to 2011, including during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Long joined the George W. Bush Jr. administration in November 2001 as a hurricane program manager in FEMA for six states, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. He, Michael Browne, and John E. Pennington ( fired from FEMA and Snohomish County for unethical conduct unbecoming of a public officer) were major participants in FEMA’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Mr. Long’s major achievement was the distribution of a hurricane computer game for grade-school students that focused on preparedness for such storms. Presumably because our children don’t have enough games to play at home.

Mr. Long left FEMA in 2006. The following year, he was named southeast regional director for Beck Disaster Recovery, a consulting firm that specialized in emergency planning, disaster training and post-event recovery.

In January 2008, Long became director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, where he directed the state’s response to incidents as different as the H1N1 flu virus and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as hurricanes and other storms. Long’s experience with schools was particularly prized by Alabama after a school in the town of Enterprise collapsed during a 2007 tornado, killing eight students.

He had no management skills prior to receiving political appointments, and at least part of his degree (MS) appears to have been earned ” online.”

In 2017, Long unjustly received widespread praise by President Trump for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Harvey, the first major natural disaster faced by the Trump administration in 2017.

Instead of actually doing anything to assist disaster victims prior to Hurricane Harvey, Long appeared on the scene just long enough to grab the limelight, hand out food supplies and take pictures ( in dress clothes, adding insult the average working class American).

Mistakenly, Long said emergency management begins at the local level and that it is FEMA’s job to serve in a supportive role. A gross understatement, as FEMA’s role is Emergency Management, before, after and during disasters. Mistakes often made by persons who lack the education and knowledge of why and how FEMA was created.

During a visit to Texas after the storm, President Trump introduced Mr. Long as “a man who really has become very famous on television in the last couple of days.” After seeing this, I remember saying ” am I reading this right? People are dying, without water, food, and electricity, and our FEMA Director’s proudest accomplishments should be how famous he will become as a result of being on television. America is in trouble!”

Personally I’d prefer not to be associated with failing to adequately respond in performing my job, human suffering, and causing the deaths of hundreds, in a very public way.

Is being famous really important when fellow Americans are without food, clean water, and electricity?

Leaders problem solve, this involves reaching across the political lines to find solutions, not a ” my way or the highway” approach. Sadly, Brock Long represents what’s wrong with Washington D.C.

America is harmed by not having qualified persons running FEMA

With no surprise my readers probably already guessed that I was no Donald Trump supporter. Frankly speaking, I felt he was unqualified to serve as a Diplomat for America – and I was no fan of his T.V. show The Apprentice, which I view as mindless television, harming our children into believing that winning is more important than working together to find solutions. However, I first gave Trump the benefit of the doubt, until he disrespected German Chancellor Angela Merkel by refusing to shake her hand.

Not because I believe Chancellor Angela Merkel is right on immigration ( fact is I believe she created a dangerous situation for Germany by allowing Muslims to immigrate at will), because I expect the President of the United States ( my homeland) to be respectful, and to act respectful, to elected leaders around the World. Chancellor Angela Merkel is no exception because she’s a female or has different views about immigration (which I certainly do not and never will share).

And tweeting threats to North Korea is not making us safer, its harming America’s credibility throughout the World, and makes us look like bullies who act on impulse and not with diplomacy.

A few weeks ago, I witnessed our President Tweet that Puerto Rico residents were “second class citizens”, for me, it was time to speak out. Taking this phrase apart word by word, “Second” speaks for itself, meaning not first. Presumably referring to the America’s main land residents in first place. Winners apparently, not just lucky to born on the mainland. Next, class refers to a superior group of persons. For me, all life on planet Earth is sacred. Lastly, citizens. The word citizen according to Dictionary.com means “a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien ). “

Puerto Rico is an American territory, meaning all Puerto Ricans are “citizens of the US.”

So why did it take eight days for Brock Long to respond to Hurricane Maria? Seems to me that Long too believes that Puerto Rico residents are “second class citizens” and simply implemented policy, also known as “class warfare.”

Problem for me, Brock Long disrespected fellow Americans, and as such, he will receive as much sunshine as our Freedom of Information Act allows.

In 2014, John E. Pennington, a political to FEMA Region X ( George W Bush Jr. forced his resignation after he learned that he was treated for major mental health issues and enjoys abusing women and children) and Snohomish County Emergency Management (terminated after he was caught via public records criminally harassing the Gold Bar Reporter and trying to hack into the Gold Bar Reporter’s blogs) caused the deaths of 43 residents in the Oso mudslides here in Washington State. Instead of doing his job, public records reveal that he spent most of his work day criminally harassing me and trying to hack into the Gold Bar Reporter’s blog.

After he killed 43 people in the Oso mudslides here in Washington State, finally in 2015, John E. Pennington was fired after public records documented his criminal conduct as state herein, and his U.S. Homeland Security clearance was stripped after he was caught running illegal background checks on citizens here in Washington State.

John E. Pennington is being sued for RICO and gross 1983 violations, and our readers should be happy to know that Brock Long hired Pennington to teach FEMA Emergency Management classes at Emergency Management Institute ( FEMA EMI) in Maryland/Pennsylvania, and even awarded contracts to John E. Pennington’s college drop-out ( who we hear managed to get an online certificate from Eastern Oregon State, a college which had major accreditation problems) convicted bank frauding wife Crystal Hill Pennington ( convicted of bank fraud, Snohomish County, Washington, 2005 using alias of Crystal Berg; and served time in North Carolina, using alias of Chris Hill, 2000, for the same offense).